Aftermath
by TheYellowLantern
Summary: With Kronika and her allies defeated, time itself is now secure. The realms can once again recover from the conflict. But not every end has been tied. Grandmaster Sub-Zero has some unresolved conflict he must attend to regarding his former apprentice: Frost.


Sub-Zero stood with a straight, firm posture as he waited. His hands were cupped around each other, his head slightly tipped, his eyes closed. It was almost as if he were in a meditative state. He might as well had been. Surrounding him was a room most unusual to him. Sub-Zero had grown very accustomed to the Asian architecture and cold weather of The Tundra. But here, in the US, everything was different. Less comfortable, more imposing. He would ask himself why he was even here...but he knew the answer very well. Perhaps if he asked himself enough times, he would find a different answer, find an excuse to leave.

But alas, it did not come.

It had been a few weeks since Kronika's defeat. Time had been torn, and now it was fixed once more...time restored to as normal a state as it could get. The younger duplicates were gone, their Revenant counterparts with them, Lord Raiden had vanished. It was a true mystery. But in the aftermath, peace had been achieved. Those that had been brought to this timeline had disappeared. Without them, the Revenants, Cetrion and Geras...the war for time was over.

There was only one person left who fought for the wrong side. Sub-Zero had come to tie up that loose end.

"Grandmaster." A voice spoke out to him.

Sub-Zero opened his eyes and looked towards his greeter. Before him had emerged Cassandra Cage. The young yet proven Special Forces commander. Sub-Zero had seen her go from a struggling sergeant to a confident commander. The experience of battle had effected her like it once did him. In his own way, he was proud of her. But he didn't make that so evident.

"Commander Cage." He greeted back respectfully, bowing slightly.

Cassie gave the slightest smile, but she knew this was no time for happy exchanges. She knew Sub-Zero was not here on pleasant business. She gave subtle motion for him to follow her, and he did. Cassie walked in front of Sub-Zero as she led him out of the room he was in. Soon enough, they found themselves passing maximum security holding cells. They were, after all, in a Special Forces prison.

"We've been keeping a close eye on her for weeks now." Cassie started, getting straight into a serious manner. "It was a bit difficult finding a suitable accommodation for her, with her unique...uh...physiology."

"I appreciate that you have taken personal responsibility for this, Cassandra Cage." Sub-Zero told her. "I should not have placed this burden on you in the first place."

Cassie turned briefly, gave him a blank look.

"It's alright." She assured him. "I get that this is a hard thing for you. I don't blame if you wanted to put it off."

There was a moment of silence. But Cassie could see the regretful look in his eye. As if he was ashamed that he even had to be here.

"You...don't have to do this. If you don't want to." Cassie went on. "You can turn and go, if you'd like. I can handle this."

Sub-Zero looked briefly tempted. But he quickly regained his firm stance.

"No. I must see to this personally." He told her as much as he did himself. "It is my responsibility. And I was wrong to have ever made it yours."

Cassie saw his commitment. She didn't seem eased by it at all, however.

"Alright. Follow me, then."

It was a little more silent walking between them, and a security checkpoint, before they finally stopped. Cassie looked at the impressive security that was the door to a cell. Sub-Zero too studied it, with a stern and yet contemplative look. He knew very well what was beyond that door.

Cassie however looked ever more uneasy.

"I...I'm sorry, Sub-Zero..." She looked saddened and distressed slightly. "You're gonna hate what you see."

Sub-Zero was looking on blankly. But he was curious as to what she meant. But he also wondered if he even wanted to know.

"When she was told that you were coming, she..." Cassie shook her head slightly, in disbelief. "She tried to hurt herself. A lot. We...we had to stop her, I-"

Sub-Zero raised his hand slightly, as to stop her from continuing. He didn't need to hear anymore. He understood perfectly.

"I understand." He simply said.

The Commander let out a sad sigh. She didn't like this. But it was ultimately his decision. And his decision was soundly made. She looked at the security scanner besides the door to the cell. A handprint scanner. Advanced design, technology typically only found within the Special Forces. She lifted up her palm, and firmly pressed it against the device. A affirmative bleep of success was heard, as red lights shifted to green. When her hands returned to her, she looked back up at Sub-Zero, a hint of sadness on her face.

"Good luck."

* * *

Even Sub-Zero's chilled heart was beating relentlessly when he entered that prison cell. His eyes were braced for an unpleasant sight as was the impression he believed was built up when he talked to Cassandra Cage. The room wasn't too big, but it was spacious. Empty. With nothing but a mere bed inside. It was dimly lit, dark enough to initially make him squint slightly. But when his vision came clearly, he could see it. A figure, knelt down in the centre of the room.

All he could hear was rambling.

"Can't...I can't...not anymore...can't..."

It was a mere whisper. A sound that his ears barely managed to pick up, even if he couldn't quite understand them. His eyes finally made out that the figure was restrained by the wrists, cuffs linking to a chain that ran into the ground itself. The sight was not unlike the stone carvings found in The White Lotus temple, of Shinnok himself, when he was imprisoned in the Netherealm eras ago.

It made his heart sink. This must have been what Cage meant. They had to restrain her to prevent her from killing herself.

The past few weeks must've been nothing but deterioration for her.

"Frost." He spoke out, gently, in a mixed tone unsure if he wanted to be heard or not.

The figure merely winced slightly.

"Frost." He spoke out again, a bit more confidently, this time crouching down before them.

As if they needed to be snapped out of whatever moment they were currently in, they winced again as they became silent. Sub-Zero looked on with not a twitch in his face as the figure raised their head up to him. Soon enough, he saw a pair of unnaturally bright blue eyes looking back. Slightly illuminating in the dim light. Her face was tired. Her jaw hung weakly from her head and her eyelids were half-closed. Sub-Zero could see bruises and dried blood on her. It was obvious that she was restrained for good reason.

She was a complete mess.

They stared at one another for a moment. It felt like a long time. But Frost was the one to crack first. Her head tipped, and she let out a stuttered whimper.

"It saddens my heart deeply to see you like this, Frost." Sub-Zero told her, his voice collected and firm.

Frost's weak breathing continued a bit before she collected her emotions appropriately. Her fingers trailed across the ground, gently scraping her tips against it. Sub-Zero could see her hair hanging from her scalp, messy and fading in colour. Subtle traces of brown could be seen under the blue. It was a miserable sight, and she was in a sorry state.

Frost didn't seem to be able to bare looking at him.

"Come to criticise me again...?" She asked quietly, almost a whisper, head still tipped.

Sub-Zero looked down upon her still. He shifted in his place, going to rest both his knees on the ground, sitting in a typical meditative posture.

"No." He answered firmly.

He heard another stuttered breath escape from her. Was it relief? Or was she just so unstable that nothing made sense anymore?

As Sub-Zero sat with her, his eyes looked upon what she now was. Cyberised. Not to the sane extent that Sektor and Cyrax where, but cyberised nonetheless. It disappointed him greatly to see what she was now. What she had done to herself. What she had lost in pursuit of her ambitions. Which he was the centre of. Her obsession to usurp him had driven her to such extreme measures. Measures that he didn't know she was capable of.

Was he at fault?

"Was I such a poor mentor?" He spoke more gently, his composed and slightly compassionate face still looking upon her.

She did not answer him. But it was as much a question to himself as it was to her. She remained in her shameful position. But regardless, Sub-Zero remained where he was. He had no intention of leaving.

He would sit here for hours if he must.

While it wasn't hours that passed, the two basked in each others presence for what felt like quite a while. As Frost knelt there, her eyes would check to see if he really was still sitting with her. She would look to see if he had finally left her alone to sulk, but every time...he was still there.

Frost hated it. She wanted him to go, and leave her here. She wanted him to go so far away that she would never even have to so much hear from him again.

Every second she spent close to him was like an agonising period.

"Why are you even here?" She hissed out aloud helplessly.

Sub-Zero opened his eyes slowly, as though he had been contemplating prior.

"Is my presence so distressing to you?" He wondered. "Enough so that you would cause harm to yourself?"

She laughed weakly, shaking her head. But she quickly deteriorated into stuttered breathing once more, her emotional state fragile.

"Why would you care...?" She asked, nearly a whisper, her eyes closing. "Why would anyone care about me...?"

Especially now. After what she had done. She was already worthless to everyone. But at least she was only that. Now, she was not only worthless...she was their enemy. Their prisoner. Awaiting the day punishment would come to her.

It was an anxious wait indeed.

"Kronika was going to make everything perfect..." Frost spoke in grief.

Sub-Zero straightened up slightly. Gazed into her expression. Into the void of her bright blue eyes. It was becoming clear to him that Frost wasn't...truly there. The last few weeks had obviously not been kind to her. She had always had an unstable mental state ever since he first met her.

And she had not gotten any healthier.

"Kronika deceived you, Frost." He informed her, firmly.

Frost's head tipped slowly once more as she forced a laugh from her saddened voice.

"She came to me when I had nothing else." She spoke gently. "She recognised me for the potential you never saw."

"No." He told her decisively. "Kronika sought only to use you. As she used Bi-Han. As she used us all."

Frost wanted to retort. To tell him that he was wrong. Her little face tightened up, a sternness filling her bright blue eyes. But no argument came from her. Instead, her glowing pupils trailed from him, and she breathed deeper. It was obvious that she too knew the truth.

Then she collected herself. Then sighed deeply.

"I know."

Frost looked miserable to admit that. That Kronika was manipulating her. It looked like she was swallowing a nasty pill. Her stern expressions twitched, and she sniffed. Her head was unmoving as her chin dipped slightly. The bright blue eyes began to water.

"You knew?" Sub-Zero spoke, surprised. "And yet you served her all the same?"

Frost was ashamed that her grief was visible to him. But chained by the wrists, there was nothing she could do about it. The display of her emotions was a picture free for him to see.

"You couldn't understand, you idiot." She spat out.

She didn't take emotion well. Anger was always her natural response. That was the case back when she was his student, and it was the case now. It was obvious to Sub-Zero that she had never grown as a person over the years. She was, mentally, still that young adolescent that had came to him long ago.

She was still a child.

"Humour me." He simply said.

And just as simply, she scoffed. Her eyes scrunched up, as if it were some effort to stop them watering.

"Do you have any idea how hard it was for me...after I left The Tundra?" She began, quietly and bitterly. "Do you have any idea how hard it was BEFORE I ever came to you?"

His face was blank. But not surprised.

"I always assumed you had a troubled past." He said. "But that doesn't justify what you have done."

Justification didn't seem to be what she was looking for. But instead, an explanation. But it was being wasted on him.

"I felt like I belonged." She explained. "Kronika...made me belong somewhere. Truly belong. For the first time."

It was a feeling she had desired for so long. A feeling that was difficult to put into words. How could she possibly make him understand?

"What the fuck does it matter now?" She dismissed, shaking her head.

Her eyes glared at him. She slowly straightened up on her knees in front of him, wrists slightly tending against her chains.

"Without her, I have nothing." She muttered." "You've all done your best to destroy my life. Take away what little I have."

Sub-Zero had come to see how Kronika worked. The way she had manipulated her allies just as much as her enemies. Frost was as much a victim as anyone else.

If not more so.

"So why are you here?" She would ask, face stern and serious as she stared at him. "That blonde bitch said you'd come. What was it you said once...the Lin Kuei are done with me? And yet here you are."

Sub-Zero was silent. It left her to ponder. Someone of Frost's mentality quickly saw what she believed was a logical explanation.

"Ah. I see." She breathed out, almost relieved. "Kano is gone. Cetrion is gone. Sektor is gone. Bi-Han is gone. The Revenants are gone. The past duplicates are gone. Kronika is gone. I'm all that's left."

Still, he was blank.

"You come to fix that? Tie up loose ends?" She wondered.

Her stern face showed a glimpse of relief. And his silence left her thinking she was right.

"Do it, then." She said firmly. "I'd rather be dead than face whatever justice these Special Forces fools have planned for me. It may as well be you, right?"

Sub-Zero looked down upon her little angsty face, a scowl that may as well has been plastered onto her. He didn't think he had ever seen her sincerely smile.

"C'mon then, mighty Grandmaster." She spoke provokingly, voice gruff and deep. "Put down the lost cause."

Sub-Zero's lack of expression was all she would see as she glared up at him.

"No." He said decisively.

It was a simple reply. But a powerful one. It made Frost look up again, her face filled with confusion.

"No?" She repeated, her eyebrows arching. "Whaddya mean NO?"

She wanted an answer, an explanation...but he did not indulge her. Her face grew into a displeased frown.

"Hah? I defied your wish for peace with the Shirai Ryu. I tried to usurp you!" She reminded him.

Sub-Zero nodded.

"You did." He said simply.

He looked unconvinced. She breathed in to continue.

"I allied with Kronika. I aided Sektor, your old enemy. We tried to kill you. I tried to kill you. "

His face was unmoving.

"You did."

Frost continued glaring at him. Sub-Zero stood up now, lifting himself up from his knees. She however remained chained to her current posture. And that was very frustrating.

"Well? Don't you want to get revenge!?" She spoke, agitated and more loudly. "Deliver vengeance to the one who wronged you?"

Still, he was unmoving. Just the mere sight of him being so unresponsive was enough to fuel her rage. And make her unstable once again.

Her mind was like a rollercoaster.

"Huh!? Well!?"

Frost jolted up a bit, her arms making her chains jingle. Her face was looking distressed, her breathing loudening slightly. And yet, he was unmoving.

"Well!?" She yelled out again.

In his mind, the thoughts of disappointment filled him. Though he did not show it, it was upsetting to see how much Frost had fallen, both in body as well as spirit.

"Look at you. Standing all high and mighty. The powerful Grand-bastard." She began to rant, disgust plastered on her fierce face. "Thinking you're so above me. You're all the same! Every one of you!"

As if she was getting increasingly heated, her arms made a single struggle against her chains, her fierce face practically spitting at him.

"You all look at me like I'm worthless!"

And it was this fear of weakness that she dedicated so much of her life to disproving. To validate herself to the world. But now, finally...she considered if they were right. If she really was worthless.

And if it was true, she'd rather not live.

Her anger was pointless, however. Sub-zero was unflinching and unmoving. Her breath was being wasted. He definitely had no intention of granting her her wish. And that pissed her off most of all...she always saw him as an obstacle, and even now he was still being just that.

The very thought of being kept imprisoned here, awaiting the day trial and justice would be dished...death was her one hope for escape. And even this wish would not be granted.

"Fucking asshole..." She said weakly, her throat choking slightly.

Frost's body relaxed, she hunched over and tipped her head from her neck. Once again, her hair hung messily from her scalp.

"I'm not going before a damn judge and jury." She hissed. "I will DIE before I leave this cell."

In a show of how emotionally unstable she was, Sub-Zero could hear a faint whimpering. Sniffling. Crying. When he realised that, something in him came to life. Some sort of paternal instinct. Something he didn't know he even possessed.

Before him was someone that he valued.

And they were at their absolute lowest.

"You will not be facing a court of law, Frost." He spoke, finally breaking his silence.

He crouched down next to her. His hands went to hold the chains that bonded her to the floor. He held the metal links firmly, before frost and ice began to coat them. A loud cracking was heard, before the chains gently collapsed into fragments.

"...but you will also not be meeting Death anytime soon."

Frost realised quickly. Her wrists became free. Her chains were broken. She knelt there, confused. Before looking up at him.

"What...?"

Sub-Zero stood up. Slowly, so did she. She hadn't stood up straight in so long...there was numbness, even by cyborg standards. There was a slight wobble in her posture, her hand resting on her knee.

"You have wronged many." Sub-Zero continued. "The Special Forces however were not subject to the pain you have caused. But to me, and the rest of the Lin Kuei. It is us that you must atone for."

Frost had a fierce yet confused look on her face. But she didn't seem any less displeased than she did earlier.

"Atone." She repeated that word, practically scoffed it. "You all don't deserve my atonement. What have you all ever done for me? What has anyone on this fucking planet showed me beyond contempt?"

She was upsetting herself. A clear effort was being made to hold back her tears. That instinct continued to kick inside Sub-Zero.

"You know that's not true." He told her, taking a step forward. "Frost...I have tried to help you. I wanted what's best for you. I wanted nothing but success for you. But you have discarded my efforts time and time again. Why?"

She stood there, shaking her head slightly in denial.

"Will you just fucking kill me!?" She demanded, helplessly and desperate, as if she wanted it merely so he couldn't probe her with more question.

"No!" He told her once again. "Listen to me."

He had stepped forward, his hands took hold of her arms. She squirmed a bit, displeasured by the very notion that he would touch her.

"Get off m-"

"Listen to me!"

With his louder tone, more commanding and powerful, he got her to be quiet as she looked at him with those bright blue eyes...wide and twinkling.

Sub-Zero breathed in.

"When I first met you on The Tundra all those years ago, I saw that you could very well have been the closest thing to kin I'd have left." He said, softly. "I had lost my brother and my closest friends to Quan Chi and Sektor. You were my chance to show that my life is not but tragedy."

She was a cryomancer like him, both of them some of the very last individuals of an entire race. To Sub-Zero, Frost was a chance to make things better. To have someone that wouldn't be taken away from him like all those he was close to had. Bi-Han, Smoke, Cyrax, Hanzo...

And in a way, he was right. No one had taken Frost from him...she turned on him willingly. Worked to overthrow him, wipe him from history.

His eyes looked down on the empty slot in her chest that housed her power core.

"I know we left on bad terms. But when I saw that you had allied with Sektor, that you turned yourself into..."

He paused for a moment as he studied her body. Sub-Zero's face tightened as he held back the slightly quivering in his lips, his stern eyes closing briefly...burying the visible pain.

"I felt the stinging pain of failure. Of loss."

Frost has been listening carefully to his words. words. Her eyes had trailed from him. Her breathing hard to suppress. Her face too was hiding emotion, albeit less successfully than her former mentor.

"I've turned against you at nearly every turn." Frost reminded him. "Why would you care about me now, after all that? Why not just leave me here to rot, and never have to deal with me again?"

She sounded surprised. Surprised that Sub-Zero was effected as much as he was at the sight of her cyberisation. It wasn't the impression she got when she faced down both him and the late Grandmaster Hasashi.

And her question had Sub-Zero ponder about what he thought of her. How he always saw her.

"You were flawed. But you were my student. I wanted to see you overcome your demons, whatever they may have been. I wanted to see you grow, in body as well as spirit." His hand moved up to touch her shoulder. "Not become...this. Not what I once was."

Sub-Zero had never forgotten what it was like to be cyberised. The extra strength and power was no substitute for the loss of spirit and soul.

But like him, he knew Frost could be redeemed. Could be cleansed.

"Then you shouldn't have exiled me." Frost whispered.

Sub-Zero nodded in admittance. He remembered the day he stood above the defeated young warrior, squirming on the ground. He remembered how furious he was that day. How rashly he demanded that she leave The Tundra...and not return. He remembered watching her leave with what few belongings she had with a stern look on his face. And contempt on hers.

That was the biggest mistake he could have made.

"I was angry that day." He said. "For so long, I was angry with you. But it changed me. There was not a single day that went by where I did not think of you, where you might be, what you were doing. Concern would fill me."

Frost shook her head in disbelief as a weak smile came on her face, her eyes glistening.

"You sound as if you're my damn dad." She said humorously.

She meant it as a joke, but it was clearly no joke to him. And that, she saw. When she did, her tiny smile faded.

"For all your flaws, I have come to accept you as not just my pupil...but also as kin." His eyes trailed down a bit, difficult even for him to look at her. "I did so then, and..."

There was a pause. But during that pause, their eyes made contact.

"...and I still do now."

She heard his words. Moved them around a bit in her brain. Understood it's meaning. And it was a hard thing to swallow, and realise. A small moment had passed as Frost let the touching speech sink in.

And when it did, it was obvious. Her eyes merely closed, her face turned slightly. To her shame, streams of tears began to fall silently down her face.

Sub-Zero could see it clearly. Seeing her like that made that paternal instinct kick in him once again. Drove him with a desire to comfort her. So, reluctantly, he moved his hands to rest on her shoulder. The metal shoulder. Cold to the touch. He would place it firmly on her.

Frost had a surprised look on her face. Her eyes trailing to look to the side at her shoulder, the eerie eyes glowing. She didn't know what quite to do. It was very awkward to her.

They were stood there for a while. As she collected her emotions. Sniffling, twitching her nose.

"We shall return to The Tundra together." He pledged. "And we will begin your atonement."

Frost's wetted face could barely look at him. So much of her world was suddenly tipped upside down by what he had told him. The amount of validation and appreciation she had just received, it felt like more than anything else she ever experienced in her life. It was something more than the rush of power, or the drive of ambitions. And yet, it was so simple.

It was just love.

"I don't think I can do it." She whispered miserably.

The past few weeks were completely misery for her. Her spirit was broken. Her drive shattered. But Sub-Zero, as usual, would always have words of motivation.

"When you hit rock bottom, the only path before you is up." He shared the wise quote with her.

"How can you possibly forgive me for what I did to you?" She asked, still quiet and weakly. "I've betrayed you. I've...killed. Killed people. Your people. Am I not some kind of monster to you?"

Her eyes wanted to see him change his mind. To indeed deem her a lost cause, to leave her here to rot and fade away. But his determination was strong. He had already given up on her once before.

Never again.

Instead his hand simply raised, and his finger delicately wiped the tears from her face.

"The fact you have tears to shed proves the opposite, Frost." His gentle words went on. "The pain you feel has touched your soul. And your soul is good. Allow me to help you realise it."

Frost didn't truly believe his words. But the validation and appreciation she had received from him had moved her greatly.

She sighed. This wasn't the direction she figured this conversation would go...yet here she was.

"Maybe...I can try." She croaked.

Sub-Zero was pleased. That was all he wanted from her. It was all he ever wanted from her.

To try.

Frost continued to sniffle. She wasn't good at crying. It made her feel dirty for some reason. But the feeling of grief was met by the sensations of warm fuzziness inside her. Even within the metal body. It was a good feeling. The best she had felt in so long. She could feel how much he valued her. It made her feel so good.

Especially when his hand went to squeeze her shoulder.

"No pain lasts forever. This too will pass."

His words always seemed wise. Always seemed uplifting even if she couldn't see it. But now, she was willing to try and see it.

He was her mentor, after all.


End file.
